To report how person-centred care principles are applied to care planning and to explore the contextual factors affecting their implementation in older adult care homes in England.
A combined framework analysis and quantitative content analysis study.
Using a semi-structured questionnaire, we interviewed 22 care home managers in England, exploring topics around care planning processes. Audio recordings were transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were analysed through a combined framework approach and content analysis.
Most care home managers discussed person-centred care planning in terms of understanding residents' values and preferences and their engagement in decision-making. Factors facilitating person-centred planning implementation included accessible planning tools, supportive care home leadership, effective communication and collaborative partnerships. Inhibiting factors included regulatory and care practice misalignment, time constraints and adverse staffing conditions.
Differences between care home practitioners' understanding and practice of person-centred care planning require further examination to improve understanding of the sector's complexity and to develop suitable care planning instruments.
Findings demonstrate a need for improved staff access to specialised person-centred care training and an opportunity for care home nursing practitioners to lead the co-development of digital person-centred care planning tools that reflect the reality of long-term care settings.
Identifying factors influencing the implementation of holistic approaches to care planning makes clear the need for modernising long-term care policy and practice to adapt to the contemporary challenges of the care home sector.
Study reporting was guided by the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research.
Two public involvement advisors with lived experience of caring for a relative living in a care home contributed to the development of the interview guide, advised on care home engagement, guided the interpretation of the findings and commented on the drafted manuscript.
The aim of this systematic review was to assess and synthesize the global evidence on existing general dementia training and education for the social care workforce.
Mixed-methods systematic review.
Systematic searches on five databases (PubMed, APA PsychINFO, CINAHL Plus, Scopus, Web of Science) were conducted for articles published between 2010 and July 2024.
Each abstract and full text was screened by two research team members, with conflicts of inclusion dissolved by a third team member. Data were extracted and studies narratively synthesized by the group into comparisons of content, delivery mode, workforce and outcomes/impact.
Twenty-seven studies from 13 mainly high-income countries were included in this review. Most studies provided training to care home staff, with studies using remote, in-person and blended training delivery modes. While the focus was on generic dementia education, various interventions have been evidenced in the social care workforce, to different effects. Most changes in outcomes were reported for staff knowledge and confidence, while evidence on impacts on people with dementia is limited and mixed.
There are various types of in-person and remote dementia training available for the social care workforce, with overall positive impacts on knowledge and change in care delivery. Evidenced interventions need to be implemented across countries and have the potential to improve dementia knowledge, particularly in lower- and middle-income countries where evidence and the social care workforce are limited.
Findings provide clear recommendations on the value and benefit of diverse dementia training on the social care workforce, care delivery and limited but emerging evidence on service user outcomes. Nurses are key parts of the staff working in social care settings, including care homes and would thus benefit from the identified dementia training.
Two former unpaid carers and three voluntary sector staff helped interpret the findings and reviewed drafts of the manuscript. They are co-authors.